Ben Sauer

I am an opportunity detective: I find ways in which digital products can better meet the needs of people. I advise teams across the world on what and how to design.

Research and strategy

As a design strategist based in the UK, I’ve spent countless hours watching people use digital products; I unearth hidden truths about what people really need from them. I excel at lighting fires – I help teams imagine a better future, put a plan in place to get there, and help them to stay focussed on making it a reality.

Speaking, training, and coaching

I’ve spoken at dozens of events and companies around the world (The Economist, UX London, Penguin Random House, UX Scotland, Reakt Breakpoint Helsinki, Smart Voice Summit, amongst others). I enjoy speaking about the potential of design, possible futures, strategy, ethics, and team culture. My latest focus is on voice interfaces.

I’ve mentored startups and junior designers in design and better design practises. I’ve created new methods to design and prototype, as used by teams at Amazon and the BBC.

Voice UI

Starting in 2018, I'm training people in how to design voice UI for O'Reilly. As a result, I've trained organisations worldwide in this (not so) new design practise, including NASA. I offer talks, workshops and training in how to craft the best conversational interactions for users. I also created voiceprinciples.com so designers can find all the best voice design principles in one place.

Experience

In the past, I've...

redesigned the social network of a $100 billion dollar company with 400K employees (TCS)

designed an app that won Apple’s Newsstand app of the year (Evo)

designed a ground-breaking science journal (eLife)

worked at the award-winning, design-changing agency Clearleft

used information architecture to help a city save decades of time, and procure millions of pounds for digital transformation (Brighton and Hove City Council)